Rachel and Simon - Wedding Story and Video

Rachel and Simon tied the knot on an excellent wedding date: 29th September 2012 (you got it - the same day as me). Although now living in New Zealand, Rachel wanted to return to West Cornwall, where she grew up, to get married. She shares the story of her autumnal harvest wedding.

"Si and I met over 10 years ago in college. We went our separate ways for university but the year I graduated he text me on my birthday, and when we met up again we realised all the old feelings were still there.

On the 10th anniversary of our first kiss Si decided to recreate the moment, culminating with a proposal. He borrowed his friend's red Ford Escort and planned for us to see sunset at the beach with the same CD we were listening to during our first kiss. Unfortunately that all went wrong! I finished work late, then the borrowed car broke down meaning we were so late we had to go straight to dinner. We went to a restaurant in the beach-side town where we first lived in New Zealand. Not to be deterred, Si suggested a walk on the beach post-dinner. Despite a little rain he persevered and on the walk back got down on one knee to pop the question!

My dress was designed by Louise Anderson, a Kiwi designer based near Christchurch where we live. I wanted to get the dress in New Zealand so I could have more of a say in the design. The basic shape is based on the 'Sposa' dress from her Boutique Collection but she designed all of the detailing with me . Not only did this allow me to have exactly what I wanted in the dress, but also to incorporate part of our life in New Zealand into our Cornish wedding.

The ceremony was at St Levan church, which is so small, cute and intimate - plus the location is very rural which suited our style.

The reception was at Trereife House near Penzance, where we had a marquee overlooking the fields. My friend Georgina LeGrice's family own Trereife and I spent many happy times there as a child. As soon as we got engaged I knew that was where I wanted to celebrate our wedding.

The theme of our wedding was Ďautumn harvestí, as we got married on the 29th September - harvest weekend. We chose copper and red, harvest colours for the basis of the theme starting with dressing the bridal party.

The church flowers were autumnal from deep reds, through oranges to yellows with dark green and maroon foliage. My Mum and her friends did all the church flowers and I chose red and cream roses and burnt orange cala lilies for the bouquets and bridal party button holes. A florist friend of my sister tied the bouquets with foliage and berries from the garden. I made the buttonholes using the roses, foliage and berries with a cala lily for the groom.

We had chosen bronze swags and red ceiling drapes for the marquee, and had bronze table runners with red napkins to fit with the theme. I made the table centers on red plates with central candles surrounding them with pine cones, dried hydrangeas, wheat, seeds and berries and made mini jars of homemade jam and marmalade as favours for the guests.

The day before the wedding I decorated the marquee with the help of our friends! Using pumpkins my Mum had grown, pinecones we'd collected and wheat. We used rustic wicker baskets and vases to arrange them around the marquee. We placed ornamental trees around the venue marquee, lit with fairy lights and lanterns and tea lights on copper stakes for a romantic feel once the sun had gone down.

I made the cake myself - chocolate on the bottom layer, red velvet with Oreo cream cheese frosting in the middle and fruit cake on top. I iced the layers with copper, red and ivory icing then decorated them with fondant leaves and pumpkins. I made a copper wire tree with orange and red beads for leaves as the topper.

Following the Pimm's reception in the gardens, three course meal and speeches in the marquee, we had a further 50 guests arrive in the evening. After the sun went down we had an excellent swing band - The Jive Jacks - who played 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' for our first dance and entertained the guests for the rest of the evening. Our photographer ran a photo studio during the evening where the guests could dress up and use props to create fun photographs. We had pasties and wedding cake in the evening to help fuel everyone for the dancing!≠"